Portable insulated cases can be used for temporarily storing containerized drinks or foods, or other products that may benefit from a cooled or warmed environment, such as some medicinal products, film, or other temperature sensitive materials. Insulated containers that are easily transportable are known and can be used for a variety of purposes. Included are containers which are designed for temporary storage of food, drink or other products for use in connection with personal travel, day trips, outings, and other similar activities where, for example a drink or meal supply, or other good, needs to be kept cool or warm for some period of time, typically several hours.
Cases or containers in this regard include soft-walled coolers. Notably, although commonly and conveniently referred to as coolers, many insulated "coolers" are also suited for maintaining the warmth of diverse objects, within a reasonable temperature range such as may be suitable, for example, for human handling. In a typical cooling application, an insulated enclosure, container, or casing, is provided with a low temperature thermal storage medium, such as by ice cubes or so-called ice bricks positioned within the cooler to assist in maintaining a lower temperature within the cooler than is typically present outside of the cooler. The cooler is exposed to outside or ambient temperatures such as room temperature, or some higher temperature environment, such as may be encountered during summer months, for example. Typically, these types of coolers function solely as a vehicle for storage of drink and food products within the enclosure volume provided within the walls of the cooler. Once the item to be consumed is removed from the inside volume of the cooler, the cooler ceases to have any designed function in connection with the items to be consumed. For example, once the item to be consumed is removed from the container, it is no longer influenced by the cooling function provided by the cooler.
An advantage can be gained by creating a situation in which, a cooler can continue to provide the opportunity for positive interaction between the cooler and food, beverage or other item such as a containerized drink after it has been removed from the cooler. To that end, it would be advantageous to have an insulated container, whether for cooling or warming, that permits a user to remove an item to be consumed, such as a cold drink, to open that object and to consume some of it. However, when only a portion of the object has been consumed, it would be advantageous to have a place, such as a beverage container receptacle, where the partially consumed object may be placed pending further depletion of its contents. Further still, rather than have the object to be consumed either warm up or cool down from its desired temperature, it would be advantageous to be able to delay, or prevent, or reduce the rate of, heat gain or heat loss from the initial temperature.
A container having an externally accessible receptacle for holding a beverage container once it has been opened may have one or more of the desired advantages noted above. However, beverages such as might be seated in the externally accessible receptacle may tend to spill. Carbonated soda beverages, juices, hot chocolate, coffee, or tea, once spilled, may dry and leave a sticky or gummy residue. It may not be desirable for spillage to enter the main body of the enclosure, and hence a leak catching, or water tight receptacle may tend to be preferred. Also, since the receptacle may not always be in use, and whether or not one carries beverages or other objects are carried in the main body of an insulated container or enclosure, there may be occasions when it would be advantageous to use the space usually occupied by the receptacle for carrying objects internally. To that end, it would be advantageous to employ a receptacle that can be collapsed, folded, deflected, or otherwise placed in a relatively less obtrusive position, such as a storage position, than when occupied by, for example, a beverage container.
While it is helpful of itself to deter spills from entering the main body of the container, once the receptacle itself has accumulated a number of such spills, and those spills have dried, in whole or in part, it would be helpful to be able to remove the receptacle for washing. It would also be advantageous to be able to replace a punctured or otherwise damaged receptacle with a replacement part, or to replace a receptacle of one size with a receptacle of a different size or shape. For example, a receptacle for receiving a rectangular container, such as a drinking box, may be replaced with a round receptacle for a bottle or a canned drink.
For the purposes of cooling, or heating an object, such as a beverage, located in a receptacle, it would be advantageous under some conditions for the heat or cold source to be in close contact with the receptacle, thereby shortening the heat transfer path. It may also be advantageous, in the case of cooling, to have a cold source suspended within the larger enclosure, rather than sitting on the bottom panel.
When an externally accessible receptacle is not in use, it may be advantageous to provide a covering to deter unwanted objects from entering the receptacle, and also to discourage undesired heat transfer between the external ambient and the internal enclosed space of the container through the receptacle. It may also be advantageous to provide an external cover, or shield, to shade or shroud that portion of an object that may protrude from the externally accessible receptacle. It may further be advantageous to provide either more than one size of receptacle, or a receptacle that can accommodate more than one size of object.